It's been quite a while since I've posted a recipe... for a couple reasons!
First of all, I love things that are easy. Guaranteed anything I'd post a recipe for would already be in your cooking repertoire (yeah...that's a thing....).
Secondly, I'd be lying to myself and to all of you if I said that cooking was my passion. I do like it; I like trying new recipes and for some reason I find it therapeutic (sometimes). BUT these spurts of cooking inspiration come maybe.... once a month?! HA! I legitimately just can't get super stoked over spending an hour in the kitchen trying something that I don't know will for SURE turn out awesome. Don't even get me STARTED on baking.... *face palm*.
I'm definitely that girl that skims instructions, throws everything in a bowl, cooks things in half the time on a higher temperature (for efficiency of course?!?!) and then is perplexed when my recipe is crispy black. I THOUGHT I DID EVERYTHING PERFECTLY!?
Be that as it may, I do enjoy cooking SOMETIMES, and do like posting recipes/ideas for you all that are:
a) healthy
b) super easy/delicious.
After a while though, you come to realize that for the non-chef, cooking healthy dinners very quickly turns into chicken, brown rice and vegetables. Every. Night. OH WAIT! Sometimes sweet potatoes! Or quinoa! All the same, THIS GIRL EATS A LOT OF CHICKEN. More protein substitutes are ideal... but chicken is just so easy and most people like it. SO how do you make chicken a little bit more interesting. Because with no sauce/fun recipe, shit gets HELLA DRY. I mean, half of my family is from the Caribbean. Far be it for me to stray from spice and flavour. It can't happen anymore!!!!!
I've compiled a few of my favourite ways to spice up your chicken recipes! For your pleasure, I've modified a lot of these recipes for the sake of eating clean. PLEASE comment below if you have ANY other suggestions.
NOTE: Some of these will crawl up on the caloric intake ladder, which is why I modified, but even still! It's okay. There are ways to make your sauces less salty. The reduced sodium route. Natural value section. Herbs and spices instead of salt. I'm sure you will find loads of ways to make your traditional comfort chicken dishes a bit more guilt-free. Thats what I love doing!
1) Pineapple Barbecue Shredded Chicken
I don't take credit for this recipe, I actually got it from one of my fave food blogs. But this recipe is probably one of my favourite things EVER. It's basically a healthy take on pulled pork. Instead, use shredded chicken and put it into little tortillas to make shredded chicken fajitas/taquitos!
What you need:
- 3 fresh chicken breasts
- Barbecue Sauce (go for a reduced sugar BBQ sauce from the natural part of your store!)
- Pineapple juice (to avoid the sugar, you can just buy a chopped/peeled pineapple from your produce dept)
- Liquid Smoke (DO NOT skip this step....seriously).
- Garlic Powder
The long and short of it is you putting all of these ingredients into your slow cooker for three hours. When you have a half an hour left, shred up the chicken with two forks and make a delightful pineapple salsa (diced pineapple, red pepper, onion, cilantro, cumin and garlic powder)
View full recipe for chicken RIGHT HURRRRR. Put it all in a small whole wheat or ezekiel wrap and you are donezo!
2) Chicken with Low-Salt Peanut Sauce
Okay, I'm actually ADDICTED to peanut sauce. Anytime I order Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai food I immediately look for whatever option has peanut sauce! Just can't get enough. This is a guaranteed way to make your chicken more fun.
I had fun making peanut sauce one night over a bed of brown rice. chicken and broccoli.
I made a few modifications to this recipe to make it a bit more health friendly (I knew I was gonna have a second helping for sure!)
You will need:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 scallions, chopped fine
- 1 garlic clove, chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon finely grated peeled fresh ginger root
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup creamy or chunky peanut butter
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
- 3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar***
- 1/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
(** I used minced ginger **)
(** ALL NATURAL **)
(** Reduced Sodium **)
(I omitted this, and it tasted just as grand!)
( Recipe Credit: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spicy-Peanut-Sauce-12029)
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| Best part of the recipe!? There's always enough sauce to store in a mason jar for later. And you all know how much I LOVE mason jars! |
3) Balsamic Mustard Chicken
If you are getting tired of the same old chicken, try marinating your breasts in some Mrs Dash, black pepper, balsamic vinegar and spicy dijon mustard!
Serve with some three bean salad and a kale salad. Good carbs, protein, and vegetables! Delicious and balanced!
4) Healthy Chicken Pot Pie
If you are like me, stuck in the DEPTHS of HELL/SIBERIA/ an average Canadian winter, you might want to sometimes reach for a comfort food.
This healthy take on chicken pot pie is a great way to do that, and it sure does deliver! Mix cooked chicken and onions with peas, carrots, corn and mushrooms (veggies can be frozen) into a casserole dish with 2 cups of low sodium chicken stock, a bit of whole wheat flour (2 tbsp) and skim milk. But instead of putting it into ANY kind of pastry, simply layer some cooked quinoa on top for delicious healthy comfort food! Here was the base I made before adding a layer of quinoa on top!
5) Chicken Pasta with Spaghetti Squash
So, I've recently become FREAKISHLY OBSESSED a huge fan of spaghetti squash. Am I the only one who assumed when people said they "made spaghetti squash last night", they MEANT that they stuck some kind of squash into a spiralizer and THEN cooked it and it was some all day sort of process ?! And even though I'm totally on the spiralling bandwagon from afar, the thought of spiralling a squash or any root vegetable made me want to softly whimper alone in a corner.
It wasn't until I walked past a produce aisle one day in my usually grocery store and saw that the label actually said SPAGHETTI SQUASH that I was like "hmm...maybe it's easier than I think...." HAHA PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!? Anyways, two days ago recently I found out that alas, all you do is buy spaghetti squash, cut it in half/remove the seeds and bake it upside down for a half an hour and the squash conveniently becomes spaghetti when you scoop it out?!?!? LIKE!?!?!? Sorry, I'm still amazed.
I'm more amazed that I actually ended up liking the squash more than actual noodles! I think its a texture thing! I like how they are so thin and kind of crunchy. AL DENTE SQUASH!? (did I spell al dente right? El dante? Whatever. Hard.)
I put served this squash with my own pasta sauce! Low sugar tomato sauce with some crushed tomatoes, onions, red pepper, chili flakes, oregano, red wine (just a splash!) chicken and spinach.
Enter spaghetti squash fandom.
ANNYWWWYYYYSSSSSS! I hope I provided you with some fun ideas to get CHIPPER WITH CHICKEN (that was my second title idea... ha!) A couple of apologies before you chow!
1) Sorry about the picture quality, I take a lot of these from my mediocre-at-best camera phone and am usually too excited to eat to keep a steady hand.
2) Sorry about my lack of actual PORTIONED recipes! I'm more of a "pinch of this, dash of that" sort of girl, like I said. Which is probably why 50% of my recipes do NOT turn out as great as these ones :) hahah but hey, I'm getting the hang of it!
Until next time!
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